Seoul and Jeju-do island, South Korea

[ulc]

My wife and I spent about 2 weeks visiting Seoul and Jeju-do island, South Korea. We've been to Seoul many times and visited most of the tourist sites so I didn't take pictures of Seoul other than the food we ate. So I apologize for not having Seoul attraction pictures. But I do have some of Jeju-do island since the last time I visited the island was like 18 years ago. Jeju-do is considered Hawaii of Korea and it's popular destination for Korean honeymoon couples. If you visit South Korea, Jeju-do island is must visit along with Seoul.

1) Pictures from Seoul

This is picture of Seodaemun Prison which is famous prison used during Japanese colonial period to imprison Korean liberation activists. After Japanese colonial period ended in 1945 after Japanese WWII surrender, South Korean government continued to use the prison until it was closed in 1987.


One of the first thing we ate in Seoul was KFC, short for Korean Fried Chicken. Kentucky Fried Chicken might be more well known around the world but Koreans have perfected fried chicken and there are like zillion fried chicken places all over Korea and they all deliver even late at night. Nothing better than chicken and beer. Koreans even have name for pairing fried chicken with beer. They call it Chimaek.


And after long night of drinking, breakfast is normally some type of soup. This case it's soybean sprout soup with some eggs and fruit herbal wine.


Koreans love soups and stew. Beef bone broth soup.


Cod fish and egg soup


Pork blood sausage soup


Spicy pork neck and spine potato stew



Braised pork neck and glass noodles


Korean army stew


Hand knife cut noodles with dumpling


But you can't visit Seoul and not eat famous Korean BBQ. Hanwoo is Korean beef. It doesn't have the insane marbling of Japanese Wagyu but it does have great marbling. Many people prefer Korean Hanwoo over Japanese Wagyu because they say the meat has more beefier flavor with better meat to fat ratio. I love Hanwoo beef and think it's one of the best in the world.

My plate of Hanwoo beef with US Angus bone-in short rib mixed in. Left is Hanwoo ribeye and rib fingers, middle is US Angus bone-in short rib, right is Hanwoo brisket. You can clearly see the difference in marbling between Hanwoo and US Angus beef.


Free BBQ banchan (side dishes)


spicy chili fermented raw crab. This was my favorite side dish. All sides are free as are refill. I asked for refill of the crab.


lump charcoal used to cook Korean BBQ. The lump charcoal in Korea is amazing. I wish we could get the Korean lump charcoal in the US.


Grilling Hanwoo beef




Free service bowl of iced buckwheat noodles at the end of the meal to cleanse the palate.


Premium quality lump charcoal on the right and starter briquettes on the left.


Equipment they use to fast light the lump charcoal


Some pork belly BBQ






Lighter and healthier fare. Grilled pork wrap




Some street food. Steamed pork liver, steamed pork blood sausage, spicy rice and fish cakes, fried blood sausage in spicy sauce, and warm anchovy broth to drink.




And some fresh seafood. The fishes on this sashimi plate were swimming in the fish tank 20 minutes prior.


Some more raw fish, oysters, abalone, sea squirt


Free spicy seafood soup made from leftover fish head and bones. Nothing is wasted.


Fresh raw octopus with sesame seed oil.


Next up: Jeju-do island, South Korea

[ulc]

2) Jeju-do island, South Korea.

Jeju island is quick 1 hour flight from Seoul.


Jeju island is nature lover's dream with beautiful oceans, mountains, waterfalls, hiking trails. When we visited, it was mandarin orange harvest season and all the trees were full of mandarin oranges. Unfortunately, I forgot to get even one picture of mandarin orange trees even though it was everywhere on the island!

Rental car is very helpful getting around the island. But in order to rent rental car in South Korea, you do need to get the International Driver's Permit. You must get the IDP while you're in the US. You can get it at any US AAA office for $20 fee.





















Temple







Dol hareubang or rock statue of Jeju island.


One of hundreds of waterfall on Jeju








Next up: Food in Jeju-do island

[ulc]

3) Jeju-do island is known for fresh seafood and black Jeju pig. Jeju Beltfish dish in particular is very famous. Jeju-do is also home to famous female free divers known as haenyeo. These fearless ladies free dive in the ocean with only wet suit and goggles and catch seafood and shellfish along the coast. One of my goal in visiting Jeju was to eat fresh seafood caught by these ladies and I was able to do that.

Hot stone abalone rice breakfast


The rice was flavored with abalone innards and pine nuts, jujube fruit, and other nuts. Really amazing.


Free grilled mackerel banchan that accompanied abalone rice. Unfortunately, no free refill on the grilled mackerel.


Plate of grilled abalone. It was the most tender abalone I've eaten in my life.


Jeju black pig pork belly cooked on cast iron cauldron lid


Fried rice cooked on the cauldron lid to end the pork belly bbq meal


Fresh seafood hot pot dinner




Shellfish caught and sold by Jeju island Haenyeo free divers.


Haenyeo diver ladies preparing my abalone and conch sashimi plate.




And one of the greatest meal I've had in my life. Grilled Jeju beltfish. Everything was so good including all the banchan sides. I ate all the sides and asked for refill. It was terrific.



Some of the delicious free banchan (side dishes) that came with the grilled beltfish meal




soy sauce fermented raw crab


Hot stone abalone rice that came with the beltfish meal. One for each of us.


Our server deboning the entire grilled beltfish for us using only spoon and fork.


Deboned grilled beltfish


My wife and I spent 4 days 3 nights in Jeju-do island and had wonderful time. I wish we could've spent like another 2 days but we plan to visit the island again in the future.

We also visited Taipei, Taiwan, for 5 days and 4 nights but I'm going to cover that in different post.

[Titch]

Awesome Pictorial
I will pass on the Raw Octopus though

[OferL]

I enjoyed reading and looking at the wonderful photos. Korean BBQ is a favorite of mine. And Korea is on my to-go list. Your post just drove it higher! thank you!

[keeperofsecrets]

Fabulous post! I envy you this trip and all the wonderful food. Regarding the *freshness* of the seafood...we'd all be in a better place with octopus tentacles than with whatever is used to make McD chicken nuggets.

[Norm]

What a great post Brother!

Thank you for sharing your trip!

[Stingerhook]

Looks like an epic trip. Thanks for the share.

[ulc]

Originally Posted by Titch

Awesome Pictorial
I will pass on the Raw Octopus though

Raw octopus isn't bad if you can get pass the texture. You do have to chew really well since the tentacles suction tend to stick on your tongue and inside your mouth. Suction sensation is weird when that happens.

Originally Posted by OferL

I enjoyed reading and looking at the wonderful photos. Korean BBQ is a favorite of mine. And Korea is on my to-go list. Your post just drove it higher! thank you!

I hope you get a chance to visit. It was my second visit to Korea this year. I visited port city of Busan for a week in the Spring.

Originally Posted by keeperofsecrets

Fabulous post! I envy you this trip and all the wonderful food. Regarding the *freshness* of the seafood...we'd all be in a better place with octopus tentacles than with whatever is used to make McD chicken nuggets.

Koreans are obsessed with fresh seafood. All the restaurants pretty much keep all the seafood alive in the fish tanks. If you're not used to it, it can kind of shock you first time you see things like abalone and conch moving in the hot pot as it's cooking. But because things are so fresh, the taste is amazing. Personally, I LOVE the food culture in Korea and how cheap everything is for the quality you receive. And there's no tipping which I love.

Originally Posted by Norm

What a great post Brother!

Thank you for sharing your trip!

Thanks Norm!

Originally Posted by Stingerhook

Looks like an epic trip. Thanks for the share.

It was really fun! It was first trip my wife and I took without our daughter traveling with us. We wouldn't have been able to eat all the delicious seafood if she came with us. She's not a fan of seafood.

[ShadowDriver]

Looks like you folks had an amazing trip! Really appreciate the photos of the sights and the ridiculous food you enjoyed.

[ulc]

Originally Posted by ShadowDriver

Looks like you folks had an amazing trip! Really appreciate the photos of the sights and the ridiculous food you enjoyed.

Thanks Marc! We had a blast! We've been home for less than a week and already miss Korea.

[chicagokp]

Wow, that was amazing.

[Alphonse]

Awesome, thanks for the pictorial!

[Sid Post]

Absolutely awesome! I may have to add Korea to my 'bucket list'!

How does someone without Korean language skills do in Korea outside of touristy places? Will little 'mom and pop' places outside of the large areas work for someone like me who doesn't know the culture and in addition to the local language?

[robertm]

And now I want to go to S Korea! That was an amazing display of some extraordinary cuisine. Thanks very much for sharing.